Egyptian bloggers started Piggipedia, a flickr “group pool” where activists could post pictures to identify and expose security officials suspected of committing crimes against civilians.
Excessive use of force and torturing of civilians were common practices of the Egyptian security forces before the 2011 revolution. There are numerous examples of police brutally dismantling protests and conducting mass arrests of protesters without accountability. In 2008, Egyptian blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy started Piggipedia. The flickr site was part of a decade-long online campaign against torture. It started with a blog, for a time the only credible source of torture incidents in Egypt.
Piggipedia: Activists Using Photos to Fight Impunity
Flickr is a popular online photo management and sharing application. Piggipedia’s “group pool” format allowed subscribers to post pictures to it. The page was spread among Egyptian activists and human rights defenders. Activists frequently updated the site with pictures and information regarding police officers involved in crimes. Activists themselves took many of the pictures, but some came from newspapers and other media.
Pictures from newspapers and other media sources caused Piggipedia users some problems. Flickr requires all pictures posted to be taken by their uploaders. Any picture that was not taken by the person who posted it violates flickr’s terms of use. Some of the photos were removed for this reason. Egyptian activists worked around this problem by posting the content to a similar photo sharing site that lacked some of flickr’s features but had different terms of use.
Not all the photos posted to Piggipedia feature policemen proven to have committed crimes. Activists post all pictures so that victims who otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to do so are able to recognize their perpetrators. In this way, Piggipedia replaces secrecy with public scrutiny. It uses the Internet to resist oppression and impunity and pave the way for accountability.
Piggipedia helped raise awareness about torture and the gravity of the crimes committed by security officials. This tactic helped raise public opinion among Egyptians against these practices. The flickr page remained active after the 2011 revolution, since little has been done since to confront violence against civilians.
This tactic is notable in its ability to bring together many people with a similar goal who without the internet would be unable to organize and coordinate their efforts. Organizations with activists separated by large distances or handicapped by political situations that make physical meetings dangerous could benefit from using sites such as flickr or other social media platforms. Activists should be careful, however, to always respect the terms of use of any social media site. They should also be aware of any internet monitoring that a country may be doing so as not to put themselves in danger because of what they post.
New Tactics in Human Rights does not advocate for or endorse specific tactics, policies or issues.
